Falling Short

The best newspaper reporting on the troubles with Civic Theatre West have been in the Granite Bay View:

After nearly a month of trying to save Civic Theatre West, the defunct theater group fell short of its goal Wednesday.

The nonprofit organization, and formerly the second-largest community theater in California, needed to raise $350,000 by Dec. 15 to become financially solvent, but only ended up receiving about $57,000, said board of directors President Calvin Stevens.

...“When we started the pledge drive, I was naively optimistic,” Stevens said Thursday. “Now, I’m just exhausted. I feel empty.”

Although about 150 donors, including individuals, families and local businesses, contributed to the cause, much-needed big-ticket donors failed to manifest with large companies choosing not to open their checkbooks and the City of Roseville declining to help monetarily.

But Stevens said the high number of donors signaled to him that people wanted to save the theater company, but couldn’t afford to give large amounts of money.

...Pounds said he understands people are struggling to make ends meet in the current economic recession, but wishes more people would have stepped up to the plate.

“We’re probably the wealthiest community in the region,” he said. “It’s sad we couldn’t find 350 people to donate $1,000. If I had significant wealth, I would have funded the whole thing myself, I feel it’s so worthwhile.”

I have my own view about the problems at Civic Theatre West. It doesn't seem to me the Board of Directors wants to surrender their current operational structure, whereby certain people involved in the theater get paid. I can certainly understand their reluctance to fire everyone and start over with a different operational structure with fewer paid positions, but unfortunately that may be what they have to do to save the theater. In other words, the Board of Directors would prefer to commit suicide rather than get sufficiently-ruthless and do what they HAVE TO DO to save the theater. Even more than the debt, it's the payroll that's killing them.

The folks in Roseville can save Civic Theatre West if they want to - there is scarcely any wealthier community in all of California, and the audiences there are large and the acting community is vibrant. There is no more inviting climate anywhere else I know of. But there has to exist the WILL to do so!

Community theaters live within a web of community support that hums with numerous unspoken and unwritten pledges of trust and support. My worry is that Civic Theatre West chased away their supporters by surprising them with news of the theater's closure: supporters were scarcely aware that there was even a decline. People naturally resist sinking money into declining enterprises, particularly when they are surprised by the decline. Surprises make people wary. And as for not being able to "find 350 people to donate $1,000": I'm sorry, that is simply an unrealistic expectation even in a wealthy community like Roseville. 350 people is a lot of people! Reality can be hard....